Maximum Ride: Beware of Plumbers
by Freelancer404
Summary: If you're a mutant living in hiding and a plumber's coming, read this...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_Max's POV_

"Rise and shine, kiddos!" I yelled, going down the hall and opening the doors of each of the flock's rooms. Personally! How nice of me! I stopped at Iggy's room. "You. Pancakes."

Iggy sat up slowly, groaning. "Thanks for being so polite about it," he muttered.

I shrugged. "No big deal."

We were at the steps. I looked behind me. Jeez, it was like follow the leader. There they were, in a line, right behind me. I just wanted to yell "ATTENTION!" and see if they all snapped into a salute and yelled "Yes ma'am!" The were all looking at me. Iggy was looking at the wall.

"Let's go," I said, and we went down the stairs.

Jeb greeted us. "Morning, kids!"

"Morning," we all mumbled.

Iggy went to the sink. "Pancakes, comin' right up!" he said.

Angel smiled. "Yes! Did you hear that, Total? Pancakes!"

Total gave a little yelp and said, "Mmm...Syrup."

I sat down. We were in Colorado again, back in the mountain house. The Erasers _hadn't _burnt it down, and we decided that since it was bigger, mom, Jeb, and the flock would move there. "Where's Mrs. Mart—Mom?" I asked. I still hadn't gotten used to calling her that.

"Gone to get groceries," said Jeb. "Just like a real mom would."

"Right," said the Gasman.

Jeb sat down across from me, at the other end of the table. "Hey," he said.

"What?" I answered.

"I just got a call from someone. There's going to be someone dropping by the house this afternoon. I'm not going to be here, and your mom has to pick Ella up from an oboe lesson, so I'm assuming you can manage?"

"It depends who," I stated.

"And for how long," added Nudge.

"It's just the plumber," said Jeb. "He's going to fix the leaky faucet in Angel's room."

I heard Total give a sigh of relief. "Thank God," the dog said. "That thing had me having to pee all night long."

I laughed, and Angel giggled.

The smell of pancakes had gotten pretty strong now, and I breathed in. "Mmm...yum. I never did figure out your secret recipe, Ig. Can you tell me? Or would it ruin the secret?"

He looked in my general direction. "Yeah, sure." He grabbed a pan that he had on the stove and pointed at it. "Pan, plus cake," he said, stacking three unheated pancakes on top of each other, "Equals breakfast." He made an equal sign in the air with two pancakes.

_It also equals a future job at Bob Evans', _I thought.

Angel spoke up. "Max says you should work at Bob Evans," she said.

Again with the thoughts invasion. I swear, that girl was really starting to get on my nerves. Was NOTHING private?

Iggy chuckled. "So now she's trying to get rid of me," he said.

Fang laughed, a rare occasion. "Nah, Ig. Just trying to make you feel at home, that's all. Didn't you hear? Sending someone away is the new nice."

The kitchen door opened, and Mrs. Martinez came through the door. Ella was following her. They both looked overloaded with groceries.

Max stood up and grabbed a few bags. Total came, yelping excitedly. "Did you bring me a steak? Did you? Did you?"

"Max," said Jeb. "Do you really think you'll be okay?"

I rolled my eyes and looked at Fang. "Pretty sure we'll be able to handle a plumber, Jeb."

He didn't laugh, didn't display any emotion.

_Oookaay,_ I thought. _That's kind of creepy._

"So what's the best place to starve off a zombie stiege?" I heard Gazzy asking Iggy. The Gasman had gone up to Iggy at the sink after Ig had said something about bombs and fires.

Iggy began to answer, "Well, I'd prefer a nice, dark cave or den..."

I stopped listening there. Angel and Nudge were talking about Barbies and which one of the twelve dancing princesses was best.

Fang was feeding Total some cold pieces of bacon.

Geezums, no one could make a good conversation like they used to.

"Everybody going to be okay when the Evil Plumber of Doom comes?"

"Yeah," the entire flock said.

"Arf," said Total, chuckling. "Gets me every time."

So nothing bad would happen, of course, because he's a _plumber_. But I'm not going to take responsibility if something does. I'm blaming it on Jeb.

Little did I know that from that day on, I would have an immense fear of plumbers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_Max's POV_

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" asked Mrs. Mart—mom for around the uh...one, two...six thousandth time.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom. He's a _plumber_. What's he gonna do, grab the drain pipe and slam it into our stomachs?"

Fang snickered. But Mom just sat there, wide-eyed. "I'm kidding," I said.

She seemed to breathe out in relief. "Well you know my number if anything goes wrong."

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"Okay, are you sure you're going—"

I stopped her and opened the door. "We'll be fine," I said.

She nodded and left.

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. A fat guy with a black beard came in. He was dressed in a blue plumber's outfit that read "Terry's Plumbing – We Erase the Scum!"

_How nice_, I thought. _Very catchy_.

He smiled at me. "Is this the Batchelder household?"

"That would be us."

"Ah, then I have the right address." His voice didn't sound all that fat. How does one sound fat? I have no idea.

"Yep," I said, and was just turning around to go upstairs when he said, "You're slated for extermination."

_Fang's POV_

"Wrong, again," I said to Nudge.

"Um...P."  
"No P's," I said, drawing a pair of feet on the hangman. "You lose."  
"Let's play again," said Nudge.

I was just about to answer when a huge, startling boom shook the house. Total jumped up to the ceiling and slammed into it. He yelped and Angel cried out. "What the he—heck was that?" I exclaimed, remembering my language.

"Don't know, but there's things all over the place," said Iggy.

"I'll go check it out. Lock the door, close the windows, and don't make a sound."

I went into the hallway and looked from my left to my right. I headed off towards the stairs. I heard voices.

I didn't dare try to look at them; they would've seen me. From what I could hear it was a man and a girl, a young one. _Max_, said my Voice.

_No bleeping DUH, _I thought.

"What?" I heard Max say.

"Heh, you're slated. You're going to die, right here, right now. And when Jeb comes back, he'll die too. And your mom, and you're pretty little sister."

"No. I'll stop you. We'll all stop—" Max began, then she screamed. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying out myself. I dared a peek around the corner.

There lie Max, in a pile of blood, across the kitchen counter.

My eyes took in the sight, and I felt paralyzed by fear. Her head was lolled to one side and her eyes were closed. "Take this wreck to the basement," the guy in the plumber outfit said.

So today was the day the plumbers attacked.

I was debating wether to rescue Max or tell the others what was going on, when I felt a prick enter my arm. I began to feel weak, and felt myself letting go of consciousness.

The last thing I heard was "Good night, sweetheart."


	3. 3  Points of View

**Chapter 3**

_Angel's POV_

I was talking to Nudge. She was the hanger person. I pretended to be thinking.

The word is 'Nudge'. She'll never guess it.

"Nudge?" I whispered.

"What?" she answered, visibly trying to suppress a giggle.

"Is the word 'Nudge'?"

The smile that had been on her face vanished. She stared at me for a moment, then she took on an angry look. She took in a breath to speak, but she was interuppted (is it possible for someone's _breathing_ to be interrupted...?) by the door slamming her in the face. She didn't even have time to cry out. I saw Iggy jerk his head up and unfurl his wings. "Up and a--" he began, but was stopped by an Eraser claw tearing through his...neck.

"Iggy!" I cried.

Gazzy had started punching Erasers as hard as his nine-year-old fists could. "Angel!" he screamed.

I whipped around and ducked, laying down on the floor. Ick, I almost kissed a bug. I looked at the Eraser that was about to stab me. I thought at him, "Die." I'd never done it before, so I didn't know if would work.

Suddenly his face paled and he fell to the ground.

Gazzy stared at me. His lips moved, but no sound came out. I think he said "Woah." Then he was slammed in the back of the head with a board. I was the only one left.

I quickly thought the situation through. These Erasers were obviously here to kill. They didn't care about what happened to them, as long as they did their jobs. That was apparent by them slicing Iggy's neck--_oh my God, Iggy_! I thought. I looked at him. He was paling--fast. I'd never thought that his pale face could get any paler, but I just did.

Then, I thought, _If I can make a being die, why can't I make one live?_ I stood up, completely forgetting the horde of grotesque monsters here to kill me and suck out my blood. After all, it was no big deal. I was about to think at Iggy, _Live_, when I felt a prick in my arm. I looked at my arm and saw a needle in it. I looked up and saw an Eraser grinning at me. "Night," he said.

My last thoughts before I blacked out were, _Iggy, please be okay...oh, Max...save me..._

_Max POV_

Needless to say, the casual "Hey, you're going to die today and I'm not really gonna care" thing took me by surprise.

"What?" I asked.

He grinned evilly at me. "Heh, you're slated. You're going to die, right here, right now. And when Jeb comes back, he'll die too. And your mom and your pretty little sister."

I tried to think of something to say. But I couldn't. I mean, next time an plumber comes to your house and tells you they're going to kill you and you can find an adequate come back, let me know. _This can't be happening, _I thought. _But it is. I think._ I bit my lip. Yep, I'm awake.

"No. I'll stop you. We'll all stop--" I began lamely, but he held a hand in front of my face.

"Have it your way," he said, and morphed faster than any Eraser I've seen.

Then he pulled out a knife and stabbed me in the shoulder. I screamed.

The last thing I saw was a dark corner seeming to fall on the stairwell. Then it was gone. I must have imagined it.

**  
**


	4. 4  The Dream Scene

**Author's Note: I'm not really sure how this is going to end. Haven't really planned it out yet. But I know that I'm going to write a very serious sequel.**

**Chapter 4**

_Fang's POV_

"No..." I said to the purple floating aliens. "Don't steal my brain."

I woke up. I sat up and found that I was on a hospital bed in a dark room. What the hell was going on? "Nudge? Gazzy? Angel?" I asked. "Iggy?" (**he doesn't know what happened to the Igster**)

Not a sound came from the depths of the room. I decided to get out of the bed. Half expecting it to open up into a pool of lava, I squeezed them shut as my feet hit the floor. Darn it, I can't see anything. _Any help, Voice_? I asked. Of course I knew it wouldn't answer, and if it did, it wouldn't make any freaking sense. Because that would be too easy, wouldn't it? "Angel?" I called out again. I heard a tinkle, what sounded like metal. I swore I'd heard that sound before, but I couldn't quite place it. "Hello?" I said, tensing, ready to fight.

I heard something on the floor come towards me. A rat.

No.

A dog.

"Total," I said, lifting the dirty thing up onto the bed. "How are ya, buddy?"

He looked at me. "I'm not your buddy. I don't know where anyone is and I wanna go home." He covered his paws over his head.

"Well I don't know either," I said.

_You're in Ohio. North of Cincinnati. _

I did a quick runthrough of the map I'd memorized. _Dayton_, I thought.

"Never mind, I know where we are."

"What? You just said you didn't."

"Yeah, well, I didn't. Then," I said, trying to think of something, "Um...I just knew."

Total seemed to shake his head. "So you're like Angel? You just 'know'? Or maybe you have a Voice like Max?"

I didn't say anything. I _did _have a Voice, and I'd had it a bit shorter than Max had. I'd decided not to tell her or anyone else about it. They already had enough on their hands with one of the flock going crazy.

"So where are we?" Total said. "Are we in some--" he began, then his ears perked up and he started howling and barking.

"Total! Stop!" I said, but he just kept on going crazy.

"Ow, ow ow ow ow!!! My oww!!"

I looked around. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe he heard something. I cupped my hand to my ear to hear better. There it was, a faint whining sound, gradually getting louder.

"What...owww! Is that? Noi...ow, god turn it off!" Total said, uttering a few curse words that I never even knew dogs could say.

_ What am I saying?_ I thought. _Dogs don't even talk!_

Then it hit me. I put my hands over my ears. It was the most horrible thing I'd ever heard. I collapsed against the bed, screaming. "Make it stop!" I heard someone scream. Oh yeah, that was me.

Then I blacked out.

_Max POV_

I'd been talking to my Voice ever since I'd woken up. Then that stupid sound had came. All the Flock was here except for Fang and Angel. And Total. I hoped they were alright. The sound seemed to have an greater effect on the others than me.

_ How could I have been so stupid? _I thought.

Terrie's Plumbing: Ter Borcht.

"We Erase the Scum."

Erasers.

_Max, you couldn't have predicted it,_ said Jeb.

_Yeah? Well you could've stopped it. But you didn't, did you?_

I heard him sigh. Ever since I'd found out that the equally crazy Voice and Jeb were the same, he'd stopped bothering concealing his emotions. _Max, the truth is..._

_ Let me guess, _I said. _This is all a test. A part of the bigger picture. Next time, be more careful when you're around plumbers. _

I didn't hear him after that, which scared me, because I was kind of tired of looking at the big picture of nothingness -- the room I was in. I was pretty sure the others were either unconscious or sleeping. I sighed.

After about five minutes of silence, I thought, _You know, Jeb? This would be a nice time for one of those old "time to learn" sessions. Kind of bored._

Jeb chuckled.

_Time to learn,_ the Voice said, and I went into sleep.

**Max's Dream**

_"What are _you _doing here? I thought we ditched you in Manhattan..." _

_"World superpower Xeti has announced the creation..." _

_Max leaned over a figure..."Oh...oh please don't die, --" the last word was cut off..._

_"Jeb! You lying bastard!"_

_Fang sighed. "I know! I just don't know how!"_

_"What?" asked Total...hospital bed, darkness..._

_"Nothing," he said, then added quietly, "stupid Voice...I know I love her but I can't tell..."_

_Fang POV_

After the noise stopped, Total and I came to again. My Voice started talking to me. The first thing it said was, _You need to get out of here. You need to find Max. _

I wasn't in the best of moods, so I said, "I know! I just don't know how!" out loud. Total looked at me.

"What?"

"Nothing," I muttered. "Stupid Voice. Always telling me the obvious. Like with Vanessa. I know I love her but I can't tell her. Max would be ticked."

_Max POV_

I awoke with a start. Fang loved me?


	5. Chapter 5 and Apology

**Hey guys, I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating! I've been busy with school, work, and sports. You know how it goes. But I will update more, please don't give up on me:)**

**Chapter Five**

_Max's POV_

I had to find Fang. The noise had stopped. I moved off my hospital bed and went over to Gazzy. I shook him softly. He rolled around, groaning. "No," he said. "Don't steal my brain."

I looked at him strangely, and said, "Um...okay..."

I moved over to Nudge. "Nudge, wake up. Now. Don't make a sound."

She sat up quietly, but swiftly. "Max, where are we?"

I honestly didn't know. "I don't--"

_You're in Dayton,_ said Jeb.

"--think we're in the West. We're in Dayton."

Gazzy looked at me and rubbed his eyes. "Ohio?"

I nodded. My hair shook up and down as I did. "Yes, that would be the one." They both hopped onto the floor. It was cold, I knew. But they didn't say a word.

"Now what?" whispered Gazzy. "I'm hungry."

_That's my boy,_ I thought. _He's thinking about cheeseburgers instead of why the h we're in here in the first place._ "Yeah, me too," I answered. "But we've got to find Angel and Fang."

Nudge said, "And Total."

"And Total, too," I said. "Now, I can see the door and I know there's a window in the corner over there at the top. It's wide enough for all of us to squeeze through, but I'm not sure how high it is. Or where we are, for that matter. At least now they're letting us some light. I can actually see you guys. Nudge, fix your hair."

"What's wrong with it?" she asked. "I just combed--" she began, but then we heard footsteps.

"Sh--darn," I said. "Up and away? Or fake 21?"

Gazzy, the more adventurous one, said "Up and away" at the same time Nudge said "Fake 21."

I didn't know what to do. It was a rare occasion. The footsteps were getting louder, and by now we could hear voices. A young man and an older man. The younger sounded about my age, and I thought it sounded familiar but I just couldn't quite place it.

"You know, it would make this a whole lot easier if you'd just stop struggling," the older man said. Evilla One.

"Yeah, and you know how much easier _that _always makes things for us," the younger man said. For some reason I didn't want to call him Evilla Two quite yet.

Evilla One sighed. "I know. But here we are," he said, and the footsteps stopped.

The door opened. I tensed, ready to fight. Beside me, I felt the two younger ones do the same.

Light came flooding into the room. A dark shape was thrown into the room. "Enjoy your stay," Evilla One said, closing the door.

As he did, I caught a glimpse of a sign that said the words 'Xeti - Manufacturing Your Needs.'

But I put that deep within the cores of my mind, as I saw who the shape that had been thrown into the room with us was.

It was Fang.


	6. Chapter 6  Peace Train

**Chapter 6**

_Max's POV, yet again. :P_

I rushed over to Fang, who was groaning. He screamed, "Jeb, you lying bastard!"

I stared at him. Never before had I heard him curse. Nudge was looking at me, as if wondering what to do or say. It was silent for a moment. Finally, I decided on "Nice to see you too, Fang."

He looked at me. I had him in my arms. He sat up and propped himself up on his arms. "Sorry."

I shrugged. Before I could say anything, Gazzy spoke up. "It's true."

I laughed. Then I stopped. "Wait, _what_?"

Fang looked down and sighed. He was in all black again, of course, looking sort of emo-ish. As always. He cleared his throat and didn't look back up. "Jeb set us up."

I was shocked. Then again, a year ago I wouldn't have been. I guess it wasn't really that big of a shocker, which was why I didn't break down crying. I just nodded. "Well, that sucks."

Everyone nodded, exhaling ad-libs of agreement.

"Now. Fang, do you know where Angel and Total would happen to be?"

"Total is in my pocket. And I have no idea where Angel is," he said, standing up.

I nodded. "Let's blow this joint and find out."

_My POV  
_

Angel had been running for hours. Those stupids couldn't catch her, no way. Not after she had put the guards to sleep and simply ran out. When a guard on a tower saw her and was seemingly going to fire a gun at her, she began sprinting. But nothing happened. She thought he heard him shout, "Peace for all!", but she really had no idea about anything. She had no idea where she was. Around her, trees reached out, as if to slap her. With every step, her breath came harder. Every time she put her foot down, she worried that they'd hear her, her the leaves crunching underneath her feet. But so far no bullets had zinged off the trees, no hounds had been barking. She hadn't heard any shouting or growling noises behind her back.

But she dare not look back.

She kept running.

_Guard's POV_

I was listening to my MP3 player when I saw the little thing seemingly run across the open yard towards the front gate. I was about to shoot her without a second thought, when I heard the wonderful music of Cat Stevens come into my ears.

_Now I've been happy lately,  
thinking about the good things to come  
And I believe it could be,  
something good has begun_ _Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one  
And I believe it could be,  
some day it's going to come_

That I had. How wonderful would the world be if we could just all get along together? The next verse rolled in.

_Cause out on the edge of darkness_

_There rides a peace train_

_Oh peace train take this country_

_Come take me home again._

A tear rolled down my cheek. All the thing was trying to do was escape, to live a good life. I sighed. It'd be better off for her dead. I aimed my gun.

_Oh peace train sounding louderGlide on the peace train  
Come on now peace train  
Yes, peace train holy roller_

Everyone jump upon the peace train  
Come on now peace train

Get your bags together,  
go bring your good friends too  
Cause it's getting nearer,  
it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living,  
it's not so far from you  
And it's getting nearer,  
soon it will all be true

The tears began to fall. I uncocked my gun. "Peace to all!" I shouted. "Good luck!"

_Cause out on the edge of darkness,  
there rides a peace train  
Oh peace train take this country,  
come take me home again_


	7. Chapter 7  Jeb

**Chapter Seven**

_Max's POV_

_Max, _said Jeb._ Max, don't do this. I'm warning you._

I wanted to practically scream in fustration. _Oh, like you 'helped' me at the house? _

I heard Jeb sigh, and for an agonizing minute there was no sound in my head. Wow, I never thought I'd ever say _that _sentence.

Jeb spoke up. _Listen, Max, the reason why I agreed to--_

_Kill me? _I thought.

_Max, _he said, _Listen to me. I beg you. The world is in danger yet again. Something evil is growing, something far more powerful than what you've faced before. The lack of Erasers at your prison cell should have hinted you to it. _

I _had_ noticed that, but I never thought that it was much. I mean, after all, if we were in a _prison_ cell, what was the point of Erasers? From past experiences, having Erasers guarding a prison was equivalent to suicide. Or something near it.

Jeb went on. _What you are going to be forced to fight is something much more powerful than what you--or the world--has ever faced. It will not be another Itex. There will be no more Erasers; there will be no more Flyboys. A world superorginization is going to put the rest of the world in danger. And it will be your fault if you fail. The world is in your hands again, Max. I expect you to do well. _

I was stock still, the rest of the Flock staring at me on the other side of the room. "Hey," said Fang. "Are we leaving?"

I sushed him. "I'm trying to have a conversation with Jeb," I said.

Jeb continued again. _I may not be able to talk to you for a long time. If that is the case, remember this: thirty--_ Jeb stopped talking. He cursed. I heard another man speaking. I only got bits and pieces of the conversation, but what I did get I stored in my memory for future reference.

The man was saying, "Jeb. Your...up. But if...again."

Well. That was helpful.

Since Jeb was the one closest to the microphone or whatever he talked to me from, I could hear him better. "Relax, Cloud, the subject's being briefed."

I think I heard the man--Cloud--laugh. He sounded strong and African-American. "You can't...to us...what you've been...to."

I heard Jeb begin to talk, but he was interrupted by Cloud. "You're time's up, Jeb."

A gun went off, then a loud crashing noise. I heard Jeb breathing hard. _Maximum Ride...I've always loved you...remember this: 38, 55. -77, 0. I love you...goodbye..._

There was silence, then I heard nothing.

Jeb Batchelder had died.

_My POV  
_

Geez...where was Fang? Vanessa had been waiting for almost an hour now. She checked her watch. It _had_ been an hour. Vanessa sighed. She walked towards the woods and took her jacket off. Making sure no one saw her, she released her wings.

They were amazing, velvety but light. They gleamed silver in the morning sun, and reached almost fifteen feet. Vanessa licked her lips at the thought of flying with Fang again. He was _totally _falling for her.

It was then that she heard the first shot and saw the bullet wizz off of a tree next to her.

Vanessa began to run.

_Max's POV_

We had managed to get out through the window and found ourselves in a seven-foot opening between the brick exterior of our prison cell and a ten-foot high barbed-wire fence. Not that that would stop us, but we needed to find Angel. We were single file, and we had shed our jackets so we could do an up-and-away quickly when needed. I was still bothered about the random numbers Jeb had given me before he died. I hadn't told the others, only Fang, so they wouldn't break down crying and ruin the escape mission. I was in front, with Nudge behind me and Gazzy behind her. Iggy followed and Fang was at the back. We barely were making any noise, being careful not to step on leaves. We walked in each other's footsteps, as we were taught.

We had to find Angel. If we didn't, then who knows what they would put her through. It would be simple. We could go back to the house and tell Mom about Jeb's unfortunate fate. Then everything would be alright.

Boy, was I wrong.


	8. Chapter 8 Death

**Chapter 8**

_Max POV_

I sighed. "Alright, kiddos. We're almost to the entrance."

Nudge nodded silently. We'd made it this far. We could go all the way.

Fang moved up in the line and stopped next to me. "Max," he said. "I...I need to tell you something."

I stopped, causing a huge traffic jam on Raid-Xeti-And-Rescue-Angel Street.

_Here it comes, _I thought. _He's going to tell me he loves me._

I had to wait to find out, because just as he was about to say it, a gun went off.

Nudge screamed. "QUIET!" I shouted. "Let's move!"

I spread my wings and flew up and away. I felt Fang rise up next to me. But as soon as we were over the fence, I heard Fang curse and drop back down. I looked down and saw that Nudge and Gazzy hadn't moved. Fang landed next to them.

I flew back. "Guys! Come on!"

No one moved. "We have to move! Do you _want_ to die?!" I practically screamed.

Fang turned around. He was crouched on the ground next to Nudge. Gazzy was laying on the ground. Fang straightened up. He walked over towards me and slammed me--hard--into the fence. "Shut _up_, Maximum," he said, and returned to his post.

I was shocked. "Um..._excuse_ me?" I screamed.

Nudge looked at me, tears in her eyes. "Max...come here."

The sadness in her gaze drew me out of my anger. I walked over.

There was Gazzy, lying in a pool of blood.

His face was pallid and his hair had been messed up. The bullet had struck him directly in the chest, near the heart.

I knelt down. "Oh...Gazzy...I'm sorry..."

He looked at me. "Hi Max...not..your fault. Don't let me die! I...don't want..."

I kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Shh...you'll be alright."

I looked up into the sky. The gun apparently decided killing one of us was fine for today.

The tears began to fall.

"No. No!" I screamed, slamming my fists against the hard brick. It hurt. "NO! First Iggy, then Angel, and now Gazzy too?!"

"Max!" said Fang. "Settle down!"

"No!" I screamed. I turned towards him, ready to slug him. "Shut up! I've had enough of this! Enough of this pain, this death! Can't we live in peace for one freaking _minute_?!"

Fang walked over to me, purpose in his stride. I carried on.

"I can't! YOU WILL NOT DIE!" I said, looking at Gazzy. "You..you can't..."

Fang slammed me against the wall.  
"Max," he said. "Shut. Up."

I struggled against his cold touch.

"When did Iggy die?" he asked.

"Nudge told me..." I replied. "He died when the Erasers attacked."

Fang nodded. His gaze never left me. "Promise me. _Never. Ever, _do that again."

I whimpered and nodded weakly.

Nudge looked at me. Her eyes were red. "Gazzy just died," she said.

I cried.

Nudge struggled the words out. "He wanted me to tell you that he loves you no matter what."

I cried even harder. I clutched the fence. "Gazzy...I'm so sorry," I whispered.

Fang came over. "It's time to go," he said, motioning towards the sky.

A plane was there, dragging a banner along after it. It read '_Welcome, Max! Hope your death is fun!_'

How nice, a banner all to ourselves.


End file.
